Claudio Luis Vera discusses the importance of inclusive and accessible design. He explains that approximately 30% of Americans have some form of disability, and that number increases to over 50% for those over age 65. If products are designed to be usable by the 30% with disabilities, they will be usable by everyone. Building accessibility into the design from the start, rather than adding it as an afterthought, ensures everyone can use products regardless of their abilities.

1. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Build apps like you mean it:
How to make sure that everyone can use your product,
regardless of ability
Claudio Luis Vera - Accessibility Professional, UX Designer, human
Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
1

2. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Hats that I’ve worn
Roles that have shaped
my perspective. Front-
end
themer UX Designer
Creative
Director
Aging
human
Management
Caregiver
Certified
A11y
professional
Community
Organizer
2

3. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Royal Caribbean
Cruises, LTD (RCL)
World’s largest cruise company,
headquartered in Miami
● 6 distinct companies
● 3 brands managed in-house
● 59 ships (+17 on order)
● 75,000 employees
● 10,000 shoreside
3

4. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Intentionally exclusive
4

5. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 5
60 years ago
Scenes like this
weren’t uncommon

6. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 6
Today
This is
commonplace

7. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 7
Today
You see this
everyday

8. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 8
Intentionally exclusive
We exclude one class of people in favor of
another

9. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 9
July 2, 1964

10. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 10
July 26, 1990

11. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 11
July 26, 1990
Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA)

12. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 12
What does the ADA cover?
Public accommodations Workplace accommodations

13. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 13
Digital
Websites
Apps
Kiosks

14. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 14
21st Century Video
Accessibility Act
(CVAA)
Affects everything with an IP address

15. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 15
10 Performance Objectives from the CVAA
● Operable without vision
● Operable with low vision and limited or no
hearing
● Operable with little or no color perception
● Operable without hearing
● Operable with limited manual dexterity
● Operable with limited reach and strength
● Operable with a prosthetic device
● Operable without time dependent controls
● Operable without speech
● Operable with limited cognitive skills
Provide at least one mode that is:

16. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Mismatches and disabilities
16

17. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Spectrum of abilities
Quadriplegic
My 92-year-old
mother
Me
Usain Bolt
Superhero
17

18. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Not every impairment is permanent
19

19. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA
What is a disability?
Disability is not
a personal health condition.
Disability comes from
mismatched human
interactions
20

20. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Which mismatches
do you need to include?
21

21. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 22
Vision
● Low vision
● Low vision (without hearing)
● Little or no color perception
● No vision
● Has light sensitivity
● Is in bright surroundings

22. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 23
Hearing and speech
● Without hearing
● Hard of hearing
● Limited or non-typical speech
● Has heavy accent
● Does not understand English
(or your primary language)

23. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 24
Mobility and dexterity
● With limited manual dexterity
● Has one or no hands available
● Using a prosthetic device
● Uses a cane or a walker
● Uses a manual wheelchair or a walker
● Uses a scooter or motorized
wheelchair
● Needs extra time

24. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 25
Cognitive/pyschological
● Has motion sensitivity or a vestibular
disorder
● Disoriented
● Limited attention span
● Has anxiety
● Is on the autism spectrum
● Limited cognitive skills

25. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 26
Physical
● With limited reach
● Is of unusual size
● Has limited strength
● Is easily fatigued
● Has food allergies

26. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 27
Gender
● Is trans
● Is gender-non-binary
● Is gender-non-conforming

27. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Unintentionally exclusive
28

28. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 29
Today:
Bias in Artificial
intelligence
Unconscious bias

29. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 30
Today:
What does discrimination
sound like?
Blind people don’t use our app.
These are edge cases.
Accessibility is not MVP.
Accessibility is not in our budget.

30. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 31
Minimum Viable Product
● Would you ship a product that doesn’t
work for a large segment of your
users?

31. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 32
Today:
What does exclusion look
like?
Unnecessary barriers.

32. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 33
Today:
What does discrimination
look like?

33. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 34
Today:
What does
discrimination look
like?

34. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 35
Today:
What does
discrimination look
like?

35. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
What does inclusion look like?
36

36. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 37
Accessible
Gaming
Xbox Adaptive
Controller

37. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 38
Hardware
Xbox Adaptive
Controller

38. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 39
Hardware
3.5 mm jacks on the
back turn the
controller into a hub
for switches

39. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 40
Data models
Genders aren’t binary
You must be able to update gender
Names need to be changeable
Don’t ask unless it’s critical

40. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 41
Hardware
Amazon Echo
Show and Tell

41. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 42
Input
Head tilt javascript
frameworks

42. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 43
Input
Eye gaze
technology

43. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 44
System
settings
An amazing amount
of assistive
technology is built
into your operating
systems.

44. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 45
Photography
Include people with
disabilities

45. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 46
Inclusive
Design
Build an experience
that works for all

46. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 47
Inclusive
Design
Is not added after
the fact

47. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
How big of an impact would you
have?
48

48. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 49
31% of Americans over the age of 18

49. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 50
30.3% of Americans over the age of 18
● Have a severe disability
● Have a mild disability
● Or need assistance to get through
daily routines
US Census Bureau, 2018
● 93% of disabilities are invisible

50. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 51
58.5% of Americans over the age of 65
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
0–17 years
18–24 years
25–34 years
35–44 years
45–54 years
55–64 years
65–69 years
70–74 years
75 years and older
People with disabilities other

51. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 52
If you build for the 30%, everyone wins
● Automatic doors
● Hands-free fixtures in restrooms
● Curb cuts
● Autocomplete
● Captions on videos
● Voice UI
● Phone screens you can see in
broad daylight
● Dark themes

52. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA 53
You’re building for
the older you

53. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Build apps like you mean it.
54

54. CLAUDIO LUIS VERA
Thank you
Claudio Luis Vera - Accessibility Professional, UX Designer, human
Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
55

55. CLAUDIO LUIS VERACLAUDIO LUIS VERA 56
Resources
Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit
Derek Featherstone’s courses on
LinkedIn Learning
IAAP education and certification programs
Level Access blog and webinars
Deque Systems’ publications
ACCESS Florida meetup group
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
Accessibility Testing on a $7 budget -
Medium Article
Deque University